Judge Turpin (also known as Lord Turpin) is a fictional character in Christopher Bond's 1973 play of the story of '' Sweeney Todd'', as well as later adaptations. He is the main

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

who imprisons Benjamin Barker on false charges, rapes Barker's wife

Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...

, and takes Barker's daughter

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek Spiritus ...

in as his ward.

Earlier versions

Judge Turpin did not exist in the earliest versions of Sweeney Todd. A character of that name appeared in the story '' The String of Pearls'', but was an older potential suitor of Johanna Oakley (with her mother's approval) with no personal connection to Sweeney Todd. It was not until Christopher Bond wrote his 1973 play ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' that the character of Judge Turpin emerged as he is most often portrayed.

Synopsis

In Bond's play and its subsequent adaptations by

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

and

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

, Judge Turpin has Benjamin Barker arrested and sent to a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in order to have Barker's wife,

, to himself. Lucy is heartbroken by this and becomes a recluse, refusing to leave her home. Judge Turpin continuously pursues her, sending her flowers every day. He sends his henchman, Beadle Bamford, to summon her to his home, "blaming himself for her dreadful plight." He

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

s Lucy, and she attempts to kill herself by drinking

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

. She survives but goes insane, forced to beg in the street for a living. Turpin then takes the Barkers'

infant In common terminology, a baby is the very young offspring of adult human beings, while infant (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'baby' or 'child') is a formal or specialised synonym. The terms may also be used to refer to juveniles of ...

daughter,

, and raises her as his ward. He keeps her locked away from the world and spies on her through a peephole in her wall. When Johanna turns sixteen, Turpin asks for her hand in marriage. She refuses, to his bafflement. When he catches Anthony Hope looking at Johanna, he has him beaten and threatens to kill him if he ever returns. On Bamford's advice, he goes for a shave at Sweeney Todd's barber shop in order to win over Johanna—unaware that Todd is in fact Benjamin Barker, returned from Australia and seeking revenge. Todd is about to cut Turpin's throat when he is interrupted by Hope, who reveals Johanna's plan to escape. Turpin promptly returns home and finds that Johanna is smitten with Hope. He sends her away to an asylum, planning to keep her there until she agrees to marry him. Turpin receives a letter claiming that Johanna has repented, unaware that the letter is part of a trap laid by Todd. Following the letter's direction, he goes back to Todd's shop, where he is persuaded to let Todd shave him again. Turpin realizes Todd's true identity, and Todd slits his throat and drops him down a chute leading to Todd's accomplice Mrs. Lovett's basement, where he bleeds to death.

Songs

In the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

, Judge Turpin is on seven songs, one of which is a solo song, "Johanna (Mea Culpa)." The tracks were all composed by

: * "Prologue: The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" (with Company)** * "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Reprise 1)" (with Company)** * "Johanna (Mea Culpa)" (Solo)** * "Kiss Me (Part II/Quartet)" (with Johanna, Anthony, and Beadle Bamford)** * "Pretty Women (parts 1 and 2)" (with Sweeney Todd) * "The Judge's Return" (with Sweeney Todd) * "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd (Epilogue)" (with Company)** (* Edited for 2007 film)
(** Cut from 2007 film)

Performers

* Edmund Lyndeck - original 1979 Broadway production and 1980 tour of Sondheim's musical. *Austin Kent - 1980

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

production. *Will Roy - 1984 Houston Grand Opera/

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

co-production. * Denis Quilley - 1993 London revival. *Xavier Ribera-Vall - Mario Gas's production (1995-1997 and 2009-2012). * Timothy Nolen - 2001 San Francisco filmed concert production. * Mark Jacoby - 2005 Broadway revival musical. * Alan Rickman -

's 2007 film adaptation of Sondheim's

. * Philip Quast - 2007 and 2015 London concerts, 2014 Broadway concert. * Robert Cuccioli - 2022 production at The Muny. * Jamie Jackson -

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in 2017 and in the 2023 Broadway revival.Hornik, Caitlin
"Full principal casting announced for ''Sweeney Todd''"
''Broadway News'', December 14, 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turpin, Judge Characters in Sweeney Todd Fictional judges Fictional rapists Literary characters introduced in 1973 Male literary villains Male characters in film Male horror film villains Male film villains Fictional child abusers Fictional murdered people